If the prospective patient is not covered by Medicare and can leave his or her home with relative ease, you may need to look for a company that specializes in Private Duty or one that will bill a private insurance company.  The private duty nursing agencies are harder to get a uniform quality ranking so I will not send you to a specific sight to search for them.  However, I have a quick and easy way to find the agencies near you by searching “Home Care Agencies Near, ___________” adding the city that you are looking for services.  After this comes up you can click on the map icon at the top and it will show you where they are near you without having to go through pages of non related junk.

Calling a bunch of companies to find out what they do is definitely not the most fun but it may just save you some money and get better care for your loved one.  I wholeheartedly believe in word of mouth referrals so ask friends and family members who have had great experiences in the past.  Remember that the small or medium sized companies may not have the marketing capabilities as huge agencies so they are not receiving the call in volume and might have a more personalized approach to your Home Care needs.  So if you have specialized needs you may want to start looking into the smaller companies first until you find what it is you are looking for.

After you have found out your needs and desires and are armed with questions you are ready to start calling. And remember, if you want to make an educated decision about what company you are going to go with than do your homework before the loved one is scheduled to leave the hospital; that way upon discharge you can tell the discharge planner the company that you want as opposed to them just giving you to the biggest company.  It is very important to note that you have the choice and a hospital cannot force you to go with their agency.  But if you have found that their agency is the best then by all means go with them.

If you are having a hard time getting through to an agency then you may want to simply dial 1-800-HOMECARE which will get you to the nearest 1-800-HOMECARE Network Member.

What do I look for in a Home Care Agency is a question on a lot of peoples’ minds.  First of all, you need to do a basic assessment of the loved one that needs the care.  Some general questions that I would start with are: how many days a week are needed, what services will I need and how will it be paid for?

Who will pay for the Home Care that I am looking for?  Depending on the insurance that the patient currently has will give you a place to start from, but remember that there are always different stipulations that can qualify or disqualify their coverage.  On big example is that Medicare insurance needs the patient to be considered home-bound meaning that it takes great effort for the prospective patient to leave the house to get to doctors appointments and such things like that.

The best way that I’ve found to search for local Home Care Agencies is to just Google “home care association of, _________” providing the state that you are looking for services in.  Each state site is different but you will be able to find lists of agencies that later you can search for to find out if they are the quality of company that you are looking for.

If the loved one that you are researching home care for is covered by Medicare, there is one great website to start your search with and that would be www.medicare.gov/homehealthcompare.  This site will allow you to compare the qualities that are measured called outcomes.  They include how often a patient has to be re-admitted to the hospital, how often the caregivers are on time and how well they are at teaching patients about their medications.  The site will display the companies’ average, as well as the averages for the state and nation.  Be advised that this list is in alphabetical order and you may need to search for companies by name to find the better ones.  Another site that is highly regarded is http://www.healthinsight.org which will give you rankings by state and wraps the Medicare site up in a nice easy to read package.   End of Part 1

Ask yourself one question would I benefit greatly by having the hospital workers come to me or am I able bodied enough to go see them?  Wants and needs are only part of how you will answer that matter since the next question is who will pay for it and how much.  Medicare, Medicaid, Insurance or Private Pay are the four most common payer sources. Once you find out what benefits are available for the potential patient you are well on your way to answering the question, is home care for me or my loved one?

Medical Home Care is absolutely a huge value to both the patients and the doctors. First of all the patients get cared for in the comfort of their own homes which can ease the stresses of getting ready and traveling to and from a medical facility.  The doctors whom oversee medical home care patients can order tests and treatments while keeping tabs on their patients that they might otherwise have not seen in the case of a patient deciding to hold off a doctor’s appointment.   The Home Care industry acts as a further reaching arm for the doctors allowing them to better care for their patients while maintaining consistent care through them.

Non-Medical Home Care which can be called Respite, Companionship and Homemaking as well as cover many activities of daily living.  This type of care is a savior to many family members who are caring for loved ones but need time to run errands, work or just need a break.  In Most cases these types of home care visits are at the cost of the family or patient.  That being said it comes down to the question of how much better off the patient might be by living at home and the huge costs associated with live-in facilities like nursing homes.

Once you have answered these questions it’s time to find out what is available in your area.  You can always fill out a contact form at www.1800homecare.com/contact and get the answers to your questions and even help with choosing an agency that is right for you.

It poses a good argument that Home Health Aides are the face of your company. If not for the fact that most companies visit counts are dominated by aides, the length of time they spend with the patients gives them the valuable task of being walking talking billboards for your agency. If you haven’t noticed by now the best companies always seem to have the best aides; how did they get them and how do they keep them once they hire them.

There are many criteria that your agency needs to meet to have success from presumably the most valuable portion of your business. The obvious ones are a competitive wage, desired location and amount of work available to them. Those three will only get you in the door while keeping them is the job of the entire staff from the top down. The most important thing in retaining your prized employees is job environment. This being said a great home care agency is like an organism that works in unison to achieve the best atmosphere for the employees as well as the patients.

Management will dictate how well your agency deals with issues as well as thrives with prosperity. If you have a positive boss who supports their employees and appreciates them you will find that it will trickle down to the rest. A micro manager on the other hand stunts the growth and personality of the rest of company causing the air to be sucked out of it like a boa constrictor. It is the job of those who run the company to find the correct balance of order to keep the company as healthy as possible. In a healthy environment the company has the opportunity to develop, but decisions and execution of those decisions still need to be carried out correctly.

The nurse’s aide is with patients 80% of the day or more and whether they are happy or not is very noticeable to all who see them. The public will perceive your company by how they view your employees and your aides, who are out there the most, so it is safe to say they can make or break your agency. If the best ones love their jobs they will show it to all they come in contact with will in turn make your company look very desirable to others. This works on two fronts, one the patients and their family will recommend you to other potential clients and others will want to work for you creating a demand to be employed by your agency.

The trickledown effect in a company will carry it a long way further than just a ridged structure that seems to repel the best home health aides as well as nurses and office staff.